


Deadly Nightmares

by fanthea



Category: Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019)
Genre: F/M, Guilt, Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-21
Updated: 2019-02-21
Packaged: 2019-11-01 13:29:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17868131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanthea/pseuds/fanthea
Summary: Carmen feels guilty about what happened to Devineaux, and it haunts her in both the waking and sleeping world. Takes place after the end of Season 1.





	1. Chapter 1

_Carmen raced towards the basement room she knew Shadow-san and Coach Brunt had taken Inspector Devineaux. She had to hurry. Zack and Ivy could only distract the two V.I.L.E. faculty members for so long before they figured it out. Entering the room, she immediately noticed Devineaux cuffed to a chair with a V.I.L.E. Truth Extractor on his head. He didn't look too good. He perked up as she walked in._

_"So, you show your face," he said with a glare, followed by a laugh. "I knew you were behind this."_

_Carmen inwardly sighed with relief. If Devineaux was still able to banter with her like he usually did, he couldn't have been too bad. She shushed him before removing the device from his head and kneeling down to be on eye level with him._

_"Easy, Devineaux. Save your strength. We need to get you out of here," she said before going around behind him and using her own version of the Crackle to disable his handcuffs._

_Returning around to his front, Carmen saw Devineaux lift up and click on a fountain pen before he passed out on the floor. The pen rolled and stopped in front of Carmen. She watched in surprise and astonishment as the pen stood straight up on its own and emitted a burst of light from the top. The light formed the holographic image of a woman._

_"What is it now, Agent Devin. . ." the woman started to say before she noticed the man she was addressing passed out in front of her. The woman glanced behind her and noticed the lady in red. Turning around completely, she started, "Carmen Sandiego, I presume."_

_Carmen had no idea who this woman was, though she would suspect later on that she was linked to A.C.M.E. As much as she wanted to know more about Devineaux's new employers, she couldn't afford to waste time chatting. She brought her foot down on the pen, crushing it beneath her heel. The woman vanished and Carmen went to the unconscious man._

_"C'mon, Devineaux," she grunted as she struggled to lift him. "We need to get you out of here before it's. . ."_

_"Too late," an uncomfortably familiar voice finished for her._

_Her heart began to pound in her chest as she turned around to see Coach Brunt standing just outside the door. The large woman entered the room and shut the door, locking it behind her by twisting the metal slider._

_"Coach Brunt," Carmen began as her former teacher started walking towards her. "Long way from campus, aren't you?"_

_"Now you didn't expect to move away from home without a visit from Mama Bear, did you?" The coach cracked her neck. "And I'm not sure I approve of the tall, handsome, law-abiding company you're keeping these days."_

_"Rebound relationship," Carmen responded. "Needed a change after all the criminals and psychopaths."_

_The coach stopped between Carmen and the window, crossing her arms. "Now you know I can't let you leave again, Lambkins."_

_"That's what I figured."_

_Carmen shot her grappling hook at a pipe just above the window. Holding on tightly to Devineaux, she pressed Retract and started to pull them both up. Coach Brunt wasn't going to let it be that easy, however. She grabbed onto Carmen's leg, halting her assent before pulling her back and flinging her away. Carmen felt Devineaux leave her arms before she slammed down onto the chair he had been cuffed to, shattering it._

_"Red, you okay in there?" Player's concerned voice came through her earpiece._

_Carmen couldn't focus on him right now. She had a major battle before her, and she had a feeling it was going to be her toughest one yet. She looked up, expecting to see Coach Brunt standing above her. To her surprise, the woman had wandered over to where Devineaux had fallen and was kneeling close to his head. She looked back over to Carmen with a cruel smile._

_"Seems a shame to waste such a handsome face," Coach Brunt said, "but you two have been causing far too much trouble together, so I sadly can't let him walk out of here alive."_

_No!_

_Carmen's eyes grew wide and she felt her heart stop as Coach Brunt took Devineaux's head in one of her huge, meaty, bone-crushing hands._

_"No!" Carmen screamed aloud this time._

_She stood up and raced over to the two. She raised a fist only for Coach Brunt to smack her all the way across the room with her other arm. Carmen slammed into the wall, and it was as if she didn't have any lungs. After gulping in a few precious breaths, she looked up and saw Coach Brunt squeezing Devineaux's head. Carmen could hear the sound of bones being crushed to pieces. Only a second later, the coach's hand was coated in red liquid and fleshy gray bits._

"NO! DEVINEAUX!"

Carmen sat up and gasped. Looking around, she was relieved to see that she was in her bedroom in one of the many safehouses she and her friends had around the globe and not in the dark basement that had been the scene of that horrible night. She took a few long, deep, and slow breaths to calm her heart rate as she desperately tried to erase the terrifying images of her latest nightmare from her mind.

The door burst open, and two familiar gingers raced into the room.

"Carmen, are you okay?" Ivy asked as she reached her friend and put her hands on her shoulders.

"I'm fine," Carmen lied. The siblings bursting in had reversed any calming down she'd succeeded in doing since waking up.

"No, you're not," Zack insisted as he sat down on the bed on Carmen's other side. "C'mon, Carm. It's been a month since the incident and you've had at least one nightmare every night, and they keep getting worse."

He was right about that. Ever since her first nightmare, in which news had come to her that V.I.L.E. agents had infiltrated the hospital Devineaux was in and murdered him in his sleep, his death had happened sooner and sooner. Last time, the coach had used the wrench Carmen had been about to grab to smash Devineaux's skull after taunting the girl about protecting the face. The time before that, Coach Brunt had ripped the man in half after doing the same thing to Carmen's coat. The girl feared that, one night, she would enter that room only to find Devineaux already dead.

"You've got to let it go, Red," Player's voice spoke up from her phone beside the bed.

He had taken to keeping a channel open between them every time she slept in order to monitor her. If Ivy and Zack weren't woken up by her screams, both before and after she herself woke up, then Player would call them as soon as it was clear that Carmen was awake and the current nightmare was over.

"Devineaux's fine," Player continued. "He was released from the hospital not even a week after the incident. He's got a new apartment with stronger security, which I myself am keeping an eye on. He's suffered no permanent damage from the Truth Extractor and is back to his old self, and also back to hunting you down."

"Let him find me," Carmen mumbled under her breath.

"Huh?" three confused voices said in unison.

Oops. They heard her.

"I. . ." Carmen started. "I just need to see for myself that he's okay. And. . . and I need to apologize to him."

"We've been over this," Ivy said in a tone that clearly stated she was tired of this familiar argument. "What happened wasn't your fault."

"You guys keep telling me that, but it doesn't erase the fact that it was my actions that led to those events."

"You can't change what's already happened, Red," Player said. "You just have to be more careful in the future."

"That's just it," Carmen said. "I thought I was being careful, but I should have known not to take anything like the key card while chasing a V.I.L.E. agent if it wasn't something I didn't want falling into their hands."

"You made a mistake," Zack piped up. "It happens to everyone."

"But my mistake almost cost Devineaux his life." Carmen's vision began to blur due to the tears that always followed a nightmare once she started to really think about the events leading up to that night. "What happens if I make another mistake? What if they try pulling that trick again? What if I can't get to him in time? What if. . ?"

Carmen couldn't bring herself to finish the question as the tears broke free from her eyes. No one said anything. Zack and Ivy hugged their friend while Player patiently listened to the silence, wishing that he was there so that he could comfort the crying girl, too.


	2. Chapter 2

Two months later saw Carmen on another train, this one heading to Barcelona, Spain. Apparently, a private collector there had a house full of artifacts and antiques that V.I.L.E. had set its sight on. Well, Carmen was going to make sure their sight went blind.

Carmen had her laptop open in front of her on her lap, with a map of Barcelona displayed on the screen. She had marked several historical and cultural landmarks and tourist attractions. The plan was for Carmen to take a week to scope out the area and familiarize herself with the comings and goings. However, she wasn't going to spend all her time just watching a house 24/7. The places on her map were to keep her occupied until Zack and Ivy arrived a week later, just before the predicted date for V.I.L.E.'s raid on the residence. Right now, though, they were cleaning up the safehouse they had been staying in for the past three months while Carmen healed and recovered from her injuries.

Carmen's eyes drooped. She was so tired. Maybe she could just rest for a few minutes. It couldn't hurt to just take a quick. . . No! Carmen snapped her eyes open. Setting aside her laptop, she reached for a chocolate bar inside her backpack. She unwrapped the candy.

"You're gonna have to pay the price for this big sugar rush of yours eventually, Red," Player's voice came from her communicator earring. He knew the sound of her opening a plastic candy wrapper by now.

"I know," she responded, "and I'll deal with that when it happens. For now, though, I'm content to use whatever means necessary to hold off sleep for as long as I can." She took a bite.

"This isn't healthy, Carmen." Player's voice was full of concern. "You've got to take better care of yourself. You'll never defeat V.I.L.E. in the state you are now."

Carmen swallowed before answering. "I'll start catching up on my fruits and veggies as soon as I reach Barcelona."

"I wasn't just talking about your eating habits. You've got to do something about those nightmares before you collapse of exhaustion in the middle of a fight."

Carmen was about to respond when she heard the door to her compartment open. Any words she had to say to her intruder died on her lips when she looked up and saw who it was.

"Bonjour, Miss Sandiego," Inspector Chase Devineaux said with that familiar smug smile on his lips.

Carmen wanted to cry just from seeing him up and walking. She said nothing as Devineaux closed the compartment door behind him and sat down on the bench across from her. All she could do was stare at him.

"It has been a while, Miss Sandiego," Devineaux continued. "Three whole months." The smile turned into a frown and he raised one eyebrow. "And it does not look like those three months have been good to you."

Carmen couldn't argue. She knew she looked terrible. A combination of avoiding sleep and then being tormented by nightmares during the brief moments she did sleep had resulted in some pretty dark bags under her eyes. Her recent addiction to sugar in an effort to hold off sleep put a few pounds on her body, which she usually tried to keep as fit as possible. Her bun, which was usually very neat, was now messy to begin with and made even more messy by the strands that had escaped her lame attempt to pin them up. She had rarely been showering lately, and she was so tired even showering seemed to drain her even though she used cold water as another way to keep herself awake. The only reason she was freshly showered today was because she didn't want to get on a public train looking and smelling like someone who hadn't left their bed in over a week and had been sleeping in garbage.

"Well, that was a waste of perfectly good chocolate."

Devineaux's voice snapped her back to the present, and she looked down to notice that her chocolate bar had slipped from her hand and fallen on the floor. She picked it up.

"It's still mostly wrapped," she said, trying to make this encounter less awkward. "It's still good. I just have to not eat the part that touched the floor." She rewrapped the candy bar and put it in her backpack before looking back up at Devineaux. "You look well," she said with a smile, trying to lighten the mood.

"You look terrible," Devineaux said.

"You've pointed that out already. Heading to Barcelona for some sightseeing?"

"The only thing I want to see right now is you." The frown deepened and Devineaux leaned forward. "We have not heard or seen anything from you in the three months since Poitier and now you suddenly reappear. Where on earth have you been and what have you been doing?"

"Wow, Inspector. You actually sound as if you were worried about me."

"Of course I was worried. A criminal who is constantly on the move, flaunting her every action, and then suddenly disappearing for three months is a cause for concern. Now answer my question."

Carmen sighed. "I was injured during the events in Poitier and I've spent the last three months recovering."

"Injured?" The raised eyebrow was back. "How could you have been injured? Did you have those thugs of yours rough you up a bit to make yourself look innocent if you were caught?"

"It was only one of them." Carmen rubbed the place where Coach Brunt had actually fractured two of her ribs. Most of the others had been cracked. Her hand had also suffered some fractures, and practically her whole body was bruised.

"You did not completely answer my question," Devineaux pressed her.

Taking a moment to remember what the complete question was, Carmen finally answered with, "They weren't my thugs. We were acquaintances once, but we've gone our separate ways."

"Then why were they asking about you?" Devineaux continued with his interrogation. "And how did they know about A.C.M.E.?"

Carmen didn't say anything. She looked down as she tried not to think about the events that had led to that night.

"Do not try to deny it," Devineaux said. "You stole my key card and gave it to them."

"I didn't give it to them!"

Devineaux was taken aback as Carmen raised her head to look at him as she answered. It wasn't her firm denial that caught his attention, however. It was the tears that were desperately trying to escape the corners of her eyes. She looked away again, avoiding his surprised, and slightly concerned, gaze.

"Yes, I stole your key card," Carmen admitted, "and then the V.I.L.E. agent who stole the Magna Carta stole the key card from me. If I had known she would do that, if I had known what V.I.L.E. was going to do with that card, what they were going to do to you, I never would have. . ."

The tears finally fell, and Devineaux found that he could do nothing except watch. He watched her cry for a minute before she finally looked back at him.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm so sorry. I don't think I could ever find the right words to express how sorry I am." She cried for another moment before continuing. "It's my fault they targeted you, my fault you were hurt, and I can never forgive myself."

That last sentence finally snapped Devineaux out of his daze.

"What do you mean you could never forgive yourself?"

At that moment, his phone started ringing. Looking at the screen, Devineaux didn't recognize the number, but he answered it anyway. He'd take any call that could distract him from the strange and awkward situation he found himself in.

"Inspector Chase Devineaux speaking," he said. "Who is this?"

"Carmen's been having nightmares ever since you were kidnapped," he heard an unfamiliar voice say.

Carmen groaned and face-palmed. Even though Devineaux was the one holding the phone, she could clearly hear Player's voice coming from the other end of the call.

"What do you mean 'nightmares'?" Devineaux asked.

"I mean, she feels guilty about what happened to you. She's been reliving that whole night whenever she falls asleep, only you die every time, and the nightmares have been getting worse with each one she has."

Devineaux's eyes widened and he looked at the girl sitting across from him who still had tears on her face. She reached over and took the phone out of his hand.

"Thank you, Player. I can handle it from here." She hung up and handed the phone back to Devineaux. "Sorry about that. What were we talking about?"

"You've been having nightmares?"

Carmen sighed. There was no way she was getting out of this conversation now. Player was so in for a lecture as soon as she was alone again.

"Yes," she confessed. "I've been having nightmares."

"And I die in these nightmares?"

"Yes," she repeated. "Every time. And it happens earlier and earlier with every nightmare I have."

For the last two weeks in her nightmares, Carmen always entered the basement to find Devineaux had already been murdered in a variety of ways.

"Are they the reason for your current appearance?"

"Yes."

There was silence for a minute, then Devineaux spoke up again.

"Why would you feel guilty about what happened? Are you not working for V.I.L.E.?"

"No," Carmen snapped. "They may have raised me, and they may have taught me everything I know about being a thief, but I refused to work for them once I found out how evil they really are. I'd rather die than work for them."

Devineaux silently watched as Carmen took a few deep breaths to calm herself down, though he was taking mental notes and filing away everything she said. When she looked at him again, her small yet clear smile was one of happiness rather than the mischievous one he usually saw during their brief encounters. He'd never seen her smile like that before.

"I'm just glad to see that you're okay," she said in a soft voice.

Devineaux just sat there in stunned silence, absorbing everything he'd learned in this encounter with the young woman who had seemed to become the bane of his existence lately. After a minute, he stood up and opened the compartment door. He was preparing to step out when Carmen's voice spoke up again.

"Wait. You aren't going to try and arrest me?"

Devineaux put a smile on his face before turning back to face her.

"You are clearly not your usual self, Miss Sandiego," he said. "It would be unfair to arrest you in your weakened state. I will get you one day, but I want the satisfaction of capturing you when you are at your strongest." He stepped out of the compartment. "I will give you one week to recover before I come after you again, Miss Sandiego. Do not disappoint me."

With that, Devineaux closed the door and walked away. Carmen didn't move for at least five minutes, expecting him to return the moment she turned her back and cuff her. She spent the rest of the train ride in total silence. Not even Player felt the need to disturb her.

The train reached Barcelona, and Devineaux had not returned like Carmen expected him to. Looking around the station after disembarking, she saw Devineaux walking away. Almost as if he felt her eyes on him, he turned back and looked at her. He gave her a quick wink before continuing on his way. Carmen smiled before heading out of the station herself.

That night, Carmen slept better than she had in two months. Not a single nightmare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> by Amalthea-Shine


End file.
